January 28, 2005

Zhao Ziyang was the Secretary-General of the Chinese Communist Party in 1989 when thousands of peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators camped out in Tiananmen Square in downtown Beijing. After several days, after opposing a military crackdown on the unarmed, nonviolent demonstrators, Zhao went to visit to protesters, implicitly showing support for their cause. He was of course, immediately deposed as head of the Party, but unlike thousands of demonstrators, he was not killed but was rather placed under house arrest. Where he remained for more than 15 years, until his death January 17 at the age of 85.

BEIJING (AFP) – China has detained dozens of people, some of whom have been severely beaten, for trying to mark the death of former leader Zhao Ziyang, witnesses said.
…
“A man from Henan province was beaten badly. His left eyeball looked like it was beaten out of its socket and he had a one inch cut to his right eye,” said the man who requested anonymity.

“An elderly woman from Shandong province was beaten to a point where she couldn’t move and a man from Hunan province was also beaten,” he said.
…